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Creative age of medieval culture, 1000-1500

CD1-37_001

The later Middle ages from about the year 1000 to the reformation are familiar ground to Catholic Students, for they are the ages which created the classical forms of Catholic thought and art which we know so well. When we speak of Catholic philosophy we naturally think of St. Thomas, when we speak of Catholic poetry we naturally think of Dante, perhaps we still worship in churches that are built in imitation of medieval Gothic architecture, and we still use medieval forms of devotion such as the Rosary. And so it is not surprising that there has been a tendency to idealize the Middle Ages as the golden age of Christian culture, as Montalembert and Ozanam did in France or Ruskin and William Morris in England or Henry Adams and Ralph Adams Cram in this country, and this in turn has provoked a natural reaction, shown in the tendency to “debunk” the Middle Ages and to emphasize the barbaric and unchristian aspects of medieval culture. There is much to be said on both sides. Nevertheless as I pointed out in my last lecture the culture of Western Europe in the Middle Ages has a unique interest for Catholic Students because it was the only great culture that was built on Christian foundations, controlled by the Christian Church and directed towards Christian ends. There are indeed other examples of Christian Cultures notably the Byzantine culture which is the classical type of a culture - that of the Hellenistic Roman world - which was converted and remoulded by Christianity, and there are many sub-cultures like that of Armenia, or

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This image may be reproduced and used freely for the purposes of private study, scholarship or research without written permission. However, in order to use the digital reproductions for any other reason users must have the express written consent of the Department of Special Collections, University of St. Thomas Libraries, 2115 Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105; (651) 962-5467, e-mail: uarchives@stthomas.edu

Transcript

The later Middle ages from about the year 1000 to the reformation are familiar ground to Catholic Students, for they are the ages which created the classical forms of Catholic thought and art which we know so well. When we speak of Catholic philosophy we naturally think of St. Thomas, when we speak of Catholic poetry we naturally think of Dante, perhaps we still worship in churches that are built in imitation of medieval Gothic architecture, and we still use medieval forms of devotion such as the Rosary. And so it is not surprising that there has been a tendency to idealize the Middle Ages as the golden age of Christian culture, as Montalembert and Ozanam did in France or Ruskin and William Morris in England or Henry Adams and Ralph Adams Cram in this country, and this in turn has provoked a natural reaction, shown in the tendency to “debunk” the Middle Ages and to emphasize the barbaric and unchristian aspects of medieval culture. There is much to be said on both sides. Nevertheless as I pointed out in my last lecture the culture of Western Europe in the Middle Ages has a unique interest for Catholic Students because it was the only great culture that was built on Christian foundations, controlled by the Christian Church and directed towards Christian ends. There are indeed other examples of Christian Cultures notably the Byzantine culture which is the classical type of a culture - that of the Hellenistic Roman world - which was converted and remoulded by Christianity, and there are many sub-cultures like that of Armenia, or